Although the opponent RB Leipzig is in a bad situation, he only scored 1 win, 2 draws and 2 losses in the last five games, but it was tied with Bayern and M? nchengladbach, two German giants, so Leipzig's record is not too bleak. This season, Leipzig scored 13 wins, 6 draws and 3 losses in the 22nd place in the Bundesliga, and the gap with Bayern was within one win. There is great hope of wrestling with the Bundesliga overlord.
In the face of such a strong team, Tottenham naturally dare not neglect. You know, in this season's Champions League group match, Tottenham was once in a group with Bayern. The two teams played a 7-2 massacre in the first round, and Tottenham lost in the second round 1-3. Both rounds were 10. Only in the first leg, the coach of Tottenham Hotspur was Pochettino, and in the second leg, it was Mourinho.
So, is Tottenham sure to survive RB Leipzig now? It still depends on how well Tottenham can play on the offensive end. After all, Harry Kane, the top star of the team, has been out for a long time due to injury, and Tottenham has no need to substitute, leaving Mourinho with a seemingly luxurious but empty mess.
Comparing the efficiency of Leipzig and Tottenham, we can find that Leipzig is not as famous as Tottenham, but its performance is solid and steady. In the Bundesliga, Leipzig is only worse than Bayern in almost all aspects, and it is not inferior to the strong teams such as Dortmund, M? nchengladbach, Leverkusen and Schalke 04.
RB Leipzig is the second in the Bundesliga after Bayern in these figures: it created 80 chances, averaging 16.3 shots per game and 6.6 shots per game, and the shooting conversion rate is second only to Bayern. In addition, Leipzig ranked third in the Bundesliga in the average score of all employees. On the defensive end, Leipzig is also the team with 10. 1 shot, 2.5 saves, and the number of cards (30 yellow 1 red) is the second. The first team is also Bayern.
Tottenham averaged 6.80 points per game, lower than Leipzig's 6.99 points. The average shot 12.4 times is lower than that of Leipzig 16.3 times. Leipzig, which created 52 chances, was far less than 80 times (Tottenham played four more league games than Leipzig); The average key pass is 9.8 times, which is also lower than Leipzig's 12.5 times. ...
It can be said that no matter how compared, this Spurs team is not as good as RB Leipzig. It's not so much that Tottenham Hotspur is bad, but that the Bundesliga fighters under 32-year-old nagel Mann are excellent! The sudden rise of Leipzig in recent seasons is unstoppable by Mourinho and Tottenham Hotspur.
The top scorer in Leipzig is also the top star timo werner, who scored an astonishing 20 goals in 22 games in the Bundesliga this season, second only to Levan. In addition, he has six assists, averaging 1. 18 goals per game! This efficiency, not to mention Sun Xingyu, is Harry Kane at the peak of the previous two seasons, and I dare not say that it has stabilized Werner.
Harry Kane last played for Tottenham Hotspur, which can be traced back to Southampton 1+0 this year. Since then, Kane's thigh muscle has been torn and seriously injured, and he was forced to take a truce for several months. The date of return has not been decided yet. When Kane comes back, Tottenham will either be out of the Champions League or try to replace him.
Kane has played 20 Premier League games this season, contributing 1 1 goals and 2 assists; He played five Champions League matches and scored six goals, ranking third in the top scorer list. Kane is the absolute output point of Tottenham Hotspur and the core of the front line. Losing Kane means losing 1/4 league firepower and 1/3 champions league firepower, which is the value of the top scorer.
At present, only Sun Xingyu, Parrot, Ali and Lucas Mora can play the center position in Tottenham's lineup. So how do these four people perform in the center position? Let's take a look at the average score of these four people in this position: Sun Xingyu scored 2 goals in 3 games, averaging 7.92, even higher than Kane; Lucas 6 games, 7.07 points; Ali two games, 6.43 points; Parrots have not yet appeared in the center position of the league.
Through data comparison, we can find that Ali and Parrot can't be entrusted with the important task of center position by Mu Shuai in the Champions League knockout, so he can only choose Sun Xingyu or Lucas Junior. Lucas Junior has more experience as a center, but Sun Xingyi's overall performance is better. So, can Sun Xingyi play center to solve the problem?
The game in which Sun Xingyi scored two goals as a center was a 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace, but it was of little reference value because there were world-class midfielder Eriksson and healthy Kane at that time, and now Eriksson has joined Inter Milan.
If Sun Xingyi is allowed to play center, the biggest problem is that no one can solve the function of fulcrum. Although Sun Xingyi is 1.83cm tall, his scoring and confrontation are not the traditional way of center. If Mu Shuai insists on playing 42,365,438+0, it will be difficult for Sun Xingyi to find gaps and opportunities among the three central defenders in Leipzig without strong wing support.
This is also the second biggest disadvantage of Sun Xingyi playing as a center: no one fills the wing. Sun Xingyu is the most powerful winger of Tottenham Hotspur, with both speed and skill, but after he arrived in the middle, the speed advantage was out of the question. And if Mourinho wants him out (like Liverpool's firmino), but Tottenham lacks two strikers (like Salah and Mane), it is obviously not enough to rely on Ali alone.
In a recent game against Villa, Sun Xingyi once again topped the center position and scored two goals here (including the winning goal in stoppage time), but the first goal came from the breakthrough point of Bellwin, and the second goal was given to Sun Xingyi by Villa defender B engers due to a fatal mistake.
Although Lucas Jr. shocked the world with a hat-trick in the semi-final of the Champions League last season, his usual shooting ability is not that bad. Mourinho can't expect him to explode like that at that time, can he Lucas scored only 4 goals in 23 league games this season, compared with 7 goals in Ali 18 league games. Lucas Jr.' s 28% shooting percentage is obviously not suitable for playing center for a long time.
This season, Tottenham beat Manchester City 2-0 at home, which is a classic game played by Lucas as a center. In that game, Lucas sent an assist to new aid Bellwin, but failed to score. This is classic, because Mourinho gave the real winners and losers of Tottenham Hotspur to the wingers: Sun Xingyi and Bellwin. Each of them scored a goal and helped the team win the crucial battle. Lucas played almost all the games as the first line of defense:
This is the station map of Tottenham Hotspur in this game. As you can see, Lucas is actually standing in the front waist, while double wingers Sun Xingyu and Bellwin are actually double forwards. This is mainly due to the pressure from Manchester City, and Tottenham can only rely on the middle counter-attack to complete the attack:
Mourinho also has a choice, that is, change the array, or play double center (Sun Xingyu+Lucas), Ali front waist; Or change it to 433, just like in recent games, Lucas is in the middle, Sun Xingyi/Ali and Bellwin/Cesgnon are around. That's how Mourinho arranged the last round against Southampton.
However, whether it is a double center or a 433, Tottenham will face greater difficulties in the middle and back court. The intercepted midfielders in the team are scarce, and Ndombe Lai and Winks are both types that attack is stronger than defense; Dell has limited personal ability; In addition, Ali and Ben Davies's defensive ability is average, and Tottenham is likely to be hit by Champions League opponents, which is very uncomfortable!
Therefore, for Mourinho, the best way is to play only one striker. If you play Lucas, the main way is to step back and provide space for both sides to impact; If Sun Xingyi is in front, then focus on one side of the formation (for example, Sun Xingyi+Ali+Bellwin+Sesegnon attacking the left wing), focus on Leipzig side and focus on defending the other side.
Only in this way can we give full play to the strongest strength of Sun Xingyu, Lucas and others, and will not stop the Champions League 16 in the absence of Kane. Mourinho tried many formations, positions and specific styles of play. He must have made his own decision. We won't know the answer until after the Champions League match day!